Matthew was quickly running out of steam, but wouldn't dare risk slowing down in any infinitesimal amount because he was still being followed.

"Come back!" the stalker begged– Matthew had already forgotten his name –as he continued to trail closely behind the blonde Canadian.

"Just go home!" Matthew called back, praying that the guy would trip on something and fall. He immediately felt guilty for thinking about something like that; after all, it wasn't even the guy's fault. It was Matthew's. It was always Matthew's.

Matthew got a burst of adrenaline as he neared his apartment. Which way should he enter this time...? he wondered, but had to stop himself from panicking as he heard the guy behind him getting nearer.

"Go...home...!" Matthew gasped, mentally cursing himself. Maple! I'm not going to make it!

"Please! Can't we talk?" his follower cried out to him.

Matthew frantically shook his head. "Nooo! Leave me alone!"

Without warning, the Canadian ran across his neighbor's lawn and did a ninja roll on his stomach over the wooden fence. Landing flat on his feet (from which he winced, the rough landing made his whole legs ache) he raced to the other side and quickly pushed his way through the one single loose board. He set it back in place, assuring it couldn't be displaced by anyone other than him, and ran to this backdoor. Matthew swiftly unlocked the door and jumped in, bolted the door shut, and slumped on the floor against the wall to catch his breath.

"Well..." he gasped for air, thinking aloud to himself. "that...cou...could have...gone...better..."
He heard the floor creaking under something's weight, and smiled to himself. As if on cue, his pet polar bear walked up and laid his head in his master's lap.

"Hey...Kuma, er," he quickly checked his faithful companion's collar and said "Kumajirou."

The fuzzy white bear gazed up at the blonde and cocked his head as if to say what happened?

Matthew liked to pretend that his pet could talk to him, and so reported how his day went as one might converse with an old friend.

"Ah...Kuma..." the Canadian sighed. "why am I so abnormal?"

The polar bear walked him talk blankly, the uninterested look in his chocolate eyes seemed to just say Who? I don't care, feed me.

Matthew exhaled deeply through his nose. He didn't need the bear to tell him (in his head, that is. Oh no, Matthew was getting as crazy as his father!) what exactly made Matthew so different. It was a faerie's blessing.

When Matthew was born just hours after his twin, his "dad" Arthur had asked for his mystical friends to bless the newborn twins. His (barely) older brother Alfred had been gifted with incredible strength and charm, so it was no wonder he had been a popular jock his entire life.

Matthew, however, was a different story. The faerie he had been stuck with saw the blonde baby and probably thought something like What a beautiful child. The world is cruel, though, and not everyone will love him as he should be. I can tell Matthew will be a kind-hearted man full of trust, compassion, and forgiving. I will help him be loved. Matthew will have the blessing of Love. Everyone and everything will love Matthew, he cannot help but he adored by all who see him. The hardhearted world will have no choice but to love him.

Damn mischievous faeries.

Thanks to that "blessing", every single thing (human or animal) was inexplicably drawn to him.

Matthew hated every second of it.

He couldn't even go out to buy groceries without the certainty of some poor, helpless passerby being compelled to follow the blonde around like a lost puppy. He'd been stalked so often that Matthew had taken to jumping his neighbor's fences just so he could enter his apartment without the fear that by morning there would be crowds of people out begging to see the Canadian. After nearly twenty years of false, unconditional, unrequited "love", one may think that Matthew had gotten used to it, right?

Wrong!

It was positively infuriating that anything he came in contact with either tried to stalk or molest him. Even his own family!

Matthew couldn't meet up with either his Papa or dad – despite Arthur being grumpy and a bit uptight the Englishman never failed to produce a blush when he son was around; his Papa was out of the question too, he was from the country of l'amour~ and flirted with anything with a pulse and Matthew's curse only made him ten times worse – and most definitely not his brother. The last time the blonde tried to catch up with Al, he'd desperately started to try seducing his twin – really badly, too. So Matthew resorted to phone calls or e-mailing. As he had figured out, people were only attracted to him from personal contact – he now had to do everything via computer or phone. This included his job of designing computer programs, websites both professional and otherwise, and even wrote on his own blog. The site, called "Confessions of a Maple Syrup Addict", was based on the idea of helping people with problems ranging from technical difficulties to issues of the love life (oh the irony!) to the best recipe for lasagna.

Matthew thought he would do well assisting people if only, you know, they weren't trying to rape him all the time.

That isn't an exaggeration either.

He'd rather not talk about it.

Matthew sighed, supposing he'd better feed Kuma and the others before they gnawed his sofa to death. He stood and walked into his living room and flicked in the lights, saying "Hey kids, I'm home!"
Immediately a herd of tens of animals of all species ran in and tackled Matthew to the floor. His army of pets included (but not limited to):

– Kumajirou the miniature polar bear
– his caramel-colored bunny was Maple
– three hamsters; a silver one (James), a black-and-white spotted one (Harold), and the last was a little orange-red girl (Cassie)
– Meeko, a chubby Yorkshire Terrier
– a Husky he called Old Man, his full name being "Old Man on the Mountain"
– he called the orange cat missing his hind left paw Raphael
– his multi-colored parrot was Johnny
– a tiny pitch black kitten recently followed him home, whom he named Scat Cat (like from the Aristocats)
– he also housed an quite old Bearded Dragon he called Teddy
– two noisy, nearly identical puppies somehow got in his house and refused to leave – he called the two "Yippy Dog" and "Holy Crap It Is Three In The Morning Shut Up or I Will Throw You In a Wood Chipper"
– a Miniature Schnauzer was Gene Kelly (he could no longer remember why)
– an adorably small yellow parakeet was named Missy
– his cloud-like grey Chinchilla was simply "Mister" – he had a real name at one point, but after months of the little rodent getting in trouble and Matthew having to yell "You get back here, mister!" the nickname just stuck
– a red vixen with white speckles snuck in during the night, and was dubbed Esmeralda

These were just a few of his pets.

As the animals were drawn to Matthew, he simply couldn't help but keep them. While he had no problem pushing perfect strangers away, he just could not do so to little fuzzy animals. All the creatures in his house absolutely loved Matthew and none of them ever tried to hurt one another but got along. They also obeyed their master and always did what he told them to do.

Matthew adored every single one of his pets, which he called his kids.

Matthew giggled from all the little licks and love nibbles his pets gave him and laughed, "Alright, alright, I'm home. Come on, kids, dinnertime!"

Several of the littlest animals ran straight into the kitchen, slipping all over the hardwood flooring. Kuma and a few of his oldest animal friends stayed by, however, and seemed to give him an escort to the refrigerator. It was positively adorable.

After taking nearly thirty minutes to feed all his kids, the Canadian snatched up his cell phone and sat on the floor where his laptop was positioned. As his computer struggled to turn on, Matthew called his local grocer, happy that his small town's grocery store delivered to his house where he didn't have to interact with people.

"¡Hola! This is Toni's Goods, how can I help you?"

Matthew grinned, his pseudo-uncle Antonio was a cheerful man who was a dear family friend. He also knew of Matthew's curse, so he knew the Spaniard wouldn't question his request to have his groceries simply dropped off to his residence.

"Bonjour, Oncle Toni."

The blonde could practically hear his grin. "Mateo! How have you been, niño?"

"Same old, same old, I suppose."

"Ah, sí, sí, entiendo. So, the usual order?"

"Yes, please. Ooh, and can you add three more bottles of maple syrup? Kuma got into my last one." He glared half-heartedly at the bear, who had curled up at his feet.

The brunette chortled in his strange way. "Fusososo~! That I can do, Mateo. Should I deliver them tomorrow morning?"

Matthew thought. "Mmm, could you get them over tonight? I have some things to get done tonight, so I'll be here the rest of the evening."

"¡Por supuesto! Talk to you later, niño."

"Bye, Toni." He hung up and quickly typed the password and his laptop powered up.

He sighed. He was recently hired by the founder of a makeup company to make their website look "totally hawt!" So he read over the email again in which the man, he was pretty sure his name was Feliks, requested a specific color scheme, a selection of foundations, blushes, and their prices, design a new logo, and upload his picture under the founder's biography. After a good two and a half hours of working and periodically cleaning his glasses, it was finally done and submitted it to Feliks.

From: maplesyrupaddict
To: number1brony
Subject: Finished.

Mr. Łukasiewicz,
I've finished the new design, so please let me know if it is satisfactory or if you'd like me to change something more.

Thank you,
Matthew Williams

Just then, his pets surrounding him suddenly sat up and stared at the door.

"Huh? Calmez-vous, les enfants."

Usually, speaking in French soothed his pets but this time they barely blinked at him.
Just then, Old Man jumped up and started barking at the door. The overactive puppies immediately yipped along as well, but Gene Kelly stood back and guarded over Matthew.

"Guys?" he began confusedly. "Wh-what're you–?"

"Delivery for Matthew Williams!" a voice called through the door.

Oh...

...crap.

"Gilbo!" Antonio, owner and proprietor of Toni's Goods, called as he put together a bag of groceries.

A certain albino emerged from the back room (no doubt having taken his sixth break of the day) – he was clad in some faded grey band tee with his wrinkled green vest loosely hung on his shoulders, the only uniform Toni required other than the name tag. He distractedly shook silver out of his face and grinned, revealing sharp canines. "Was ist los, Tonio?"

The Spaniard set the total receipt in the large, brown paper bag and quickly glanced at his friend. Gilbert was his best friend in the world next to Francis and despite how reckless and thoughtless he was, Antonio could trust him with his life. This though...

Antonio knew his friend had serious trouble following orders or listening to anyone, so he admittedly had doubts toward sending the albino to su sobrino precioso de casa.

"...Tonio? You all there, buddy?" Antonio snapped out of his thoughts to see his friend smirking as he waved a hand in front of his face condescendingly.

He smiled. "Lo siento, Gilbo. Just got lost in my thoughts." He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"So what'd ya need?"

"Oh yeah! I need you to deliver these groceries." he motioned toward the bag atop the counter behind him.

Gilbert whined. "Awww, Tonio~! I'm so lazy though!"

"It's important. I would do it myself, but there's too much work I have to get done in the Cave." They both shuddered. "The Cave" was officially Antonio's office, but always went out of way to avoid it as much as he could. The room received no service whatsoever, didn't get any air conditioning or heating, it was soundproof, and not to mention it was creepy as all get-out. "Por favor, Gilbo?"

Gilbert sighed, there was no humanly way he could resist his friend's best kicked-puppy look. "Ja, ja," He groaned inwardly.

The brunet's face brightened instantly. "Gracias, Gilbo!" He took the enormous paper bag in his arms and stared at the Prussian dead-seriously. "Okay, now this is very important Gilbert."

Gilbert was slightly taken aback. The cheerful, carefree Spaniard was always lighthearted and nicknames all around and grinning ignorantly, but here he was now watching him carefully and totally serious. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Here's what you do: go up to the house, put the bag in the tin box by the door, take the money left in an envelope, and leave. Do not ring the doorbell, do not knock on the door, do not try to get his attention in anyway, and whatever you do – do not talk to him. ¿Sí?"

"Uh. . .ja." Gilbert was momentarily stunned. "But why? Is this guy horribly hideous or something?"

Antonio's face lit up with no warning and he laughed heartily. "Fusososososo~! Okay then, you're on your way!" and pushed Gilbert out the door with the bag in his pale arms.

As the door shut behind him, Gilbert shook his head slightly. "Was war das?" He casually walked over to his truck and clambered in, buckling the bag of grocery things into the passenger seat. He closely followed the directions Toni wrote out, and was surprised at how secluded the place seemed to be. When he finally reached the destination, all he could do was take in the strange house. A group of cats lounged contentedly on the roof, gophers lived in holes that littered the front lawn, squirrels simply chatted with one another in the enormous oak tree that thrived to the left of the residence, and two dogs napped happily by the stoop. Dang, thought Gilbert. This place just attracts creatures, doesn't it?

He ran up the steps and immediately spied the dull silver tin box his friend spoke of, upon further inspection he discovered an envelope filled with the exact tab printed on the receipt. Part of him wondered if he really should listen to Antonio's warnings. . .he did say it was important, too. But then he thought The way Tonio spoke made it sound like the guy doesn't interact with people. Hm...I wonder why...? He grinned, thinking that he would grace the kid with his awesome existence. Tonio didn't have to know!

Gilbert checked the header of the thin paper receipt. "Matthew Williams", huh? Shifting the bag's weight into one arm, he slammed his knuckles on the door. "Delivery for Matthew Williams!"

There was silence, but the albino was certain that this "Matthew" kid was home. Why am I thinking like this?

Through the door someone whispered – though somehow Gilbert just barely heard it – "The money's out there isn't it? Just leave it in the box."

"I should do it personally. I wouldn't want to drop the eggs." Nice save, Gilbert! A pause ensued and he knew the kid was about to decline. Glancing down Gilbert spotted five bottles of maple syrup (for whatever reason there were so many) in fancy glass bottles, he added in a falsely concerned tone, "It would be a real shame if this syrup got broken or leaked..."

There was more silence until the Prussian heard a faint "Sit, kids, and stay." The door hesitantly swung open and Gilbert was sure he was hallucinating because surely people that beautiful couldn't really exist...! The angel's light strawberry-blonde hair hung in glossy waves just above his jaw and a cute little rebellious curl stood out by itself. Very faint freckles dusted across his nose and upper cheeks, his porcelain skin easily betrayed the light specks. He was swimming in an oversized hoodie and loose jeans, looking like a kid playing dress-up (he had to actively restrain a squeal out of its adorableness – which of course he would deny until his dying day). Behind his delicate glasses, unbelievably violet eyes flickered swiftly at the albino before blushing and turning away. The pink staining his cheeks was just so adorable there was really no other word to describe it. Clearly uncomfortable, the blond wrapped thin arms around his self, shifting from foot to foot. Gilbert realized he was blatantly staring and quickly clamped his mouth shut, hoping there wasn't any drool, but hot damn that kid was something else! A small voice cleared its throat and he looked down to see the blond holding his small arms out – at first Gilbert thought he wanted a hug and would have been more than willing to comply when it clicked that he wanted him to hand over the groceries.

"You sure? This's pretty heavy..." Gilbert mentally cursed himself for sounding like some pansy.

The kid sighed. "I'll be fine, so could you—" but just then, some yellow puff fell from who-knows-where and the blond quickly caught him. The Prussian watched a bright smile overtake his face and he said

"Missy! Have you been in my hair this whole time?" The parakeet chirped merrily at its owner before glancing at the stranger.

Gilbert realized that the blond was too shy to let him help (uh-huh, sure) so he turned his attention to the little bird.

"Hallo, Vogel." He crouched down slightly to gaze at the parakeet perched in the kid's hands. "I have a little yellow birdie like you at home, but his name's Gilbird."

There was the sound of tinkling laughter, and Gilbert looked up at the blond's expression lit up in amusement. Gilbert had to keep himself from blushing. Gott, his laugh is so sweet.

"Gilbert's pet is named 'Gilbird'?" he giggled again.

"How'd you know my name's Gilbert?" How did he know him? Did Toni ever talk about him?

The blond pointed toward the name tag pinned to his vest. "Oh, heh, yeah..."

Matthew felt himself smile a bit at Gilbert's fumbling. Usually people just straight out tried to have sex with him, but the albino was just cutely awkward in a way that almost made Matthew want to invite him in. Almost.

He admitted to himself that Gilbert was pretty attractive. His silver-white hair was just bedraggled and shaggy enough to look like this-is-my-photo-shoot-peasants instead of I-just-played-Halo-all-night-and-I-don't-own-shamp oo. He had rich ruby-colored eyes and seemed to shine slightly, and the outfit he wore seemed to hug what he wanted it to in the right ways. He inwardly blushed and cursed himself. Don't get attached, Matthew! It's just the curse that's making him act this way. Give it an hour and about a mile and he'll forget all about you!

But Matthew couldn't help but ask "Is Gilbird a parakeet too?"

Gilbert grinned. "Ja! Mein awesome little buddy is of the awesomest bird species!"

The Canadian smiled. "Maybe Missy and Gilbird should meet up sometime then..."

"Really?" Gilbert said hopefully, and Matthew mentally kicked himself.

Don't say it, Matthew! Don't say, don't say it, don't you dare say–!

"S-sure. Why n-not?" Gosh dang it, Matthew. What are you doing?

"So, uh, is it alright if I came over again...?" Gilbert had absolutely no idea why he was acting so shy around this kid— sure he was pretty cute–okay, fine, he was freaking adorable! — but the Prussian was always so confident and never caring about what others think... so why was he acting like a lovesick teenage girl?!

Matthew thought a moment. He couldn't just say no to him — the Canadian had a serious problem saying no to anyone. If I meet up with him again who knows what he'll try to do! "I'm really busy–" Okay, not completely a lie. "–so what if I give you my email?" This was perfectly safe. Matthew knew that as soon as his "blessing" wasn't affecting people, they forgot about him. Whether it was part of the curse or just his forgettable personality, he had no idea. Most of the time after his Papa nearly violated him and Matthew got away, his Papa forgot he ever saw the Canadian (about 85% of the time his family forgot they had a son/brother named Matthew). So as soon as Gilbert left, he would totally forget his contact with the blond and go on with life.

As it was, Gilbert grinned as the cute blond scrawled out an address on the back of his receipt. He hesitantly passed the (heavy) bag over and took the slip. Gilbert knew he had to leave – jeez, job, why are you so inconvenient? – so he took a moment to study the seraphic face. How does he be so cute?
Regrettably, he had to leave. "I'll talk to ya later, Birdie!" 'Birdie'? Where did that come from? But it just seemed to suit him so well, especially with that little parakeet settled happily on his head.

He saw the kid blush — it was right then he decided that his name was now eternally Birdie — and say "Did you just call me 'Birdie'?"

Gilbert chuckled lightly at his pretty, little childish expression with his nose scrunched slightly.

"Auf Wiedersehen!"

As Gilbert was driving away he thought Oh, wow. Just as Matthew was thinking What am I getting myself into?

Aaaaaaaaand scene!

So, what thinkest thou? Click that little rectangle down there and tell me what you think! I'm not going to hold this for ransom like I will update when I get 13 reviews! but if a lot of people like this, then I could make it a two/three-shot for my kiddos. Even if you just put "good" or "no" (etc.), then I will know what you guys think! So, review, alright?

I will see you later, my child!

-whispers loudly- (I LOVE YOU!)

'Till next time~

~Ginge